Tony McGregor, the father of Conor McGregor, has said years of following the mixed martial arts fighter around small venues and GAA halls has started to pay off.
Upon his return from the United States last month, the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) star gathered his family and, with a team of accountants by his side, explained how he was going to sort out their mortgages and buy them BMWs.
“It just blew us away,” his father told Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ Radio 1. “When he came home from LA he called us all up to his new abode... and he sat us all down and he just spelled it all out with his accounting firm.”
McGregor told them he would buy the family home, giving his parents a lifelong interest in it. On top of that, he bought them, his two sisters and his long-term partner, Dee Devlin, new cars. “It was a huge gesture, we’re really very lucky about this,” said Tony.
“He spelled it out, what he was going to do for us. We walked out of there and we all had BMWs. I’m driving a 5 Series BMW now, brand spanking new. His mother is also driving one and his sister is driving one.”
Tony explained how the family has travelled with McGregor to “some very salubrious” locations, such as Sweden and Las Vegas, to watch him fight. “But we’ve also been in the less salubrious locations prior to him signing for the UFC. We did the GAA halls, we did the small venues around the town before he was signed. We’ve been there from the start.”
Tony, who was a taxi driver for 25 years, spoke about his son’s new home in Dublin as well as his old living arrangement, which involved staying with his girlfriend upstairs in the family home, something he has since grown out of. “He has an A-list lifestyle now. He’s more used to the Jacuzzis and the swimming pools.”
Mr McGregor said his son “is a multi-millionaire now. Also he’s on the cusp of signing a major deal with the UFC now at the moment, the biggest deal in UFC history so he knows exactly where he’s going in the business stakes”.
During a recent interview, the fighter said he always imagined what it would be like to treat his family. “On the climb I always visualised giving,” he said. “Giving to people who are around me, what it would feel like to roll up one day and say ‘hey that mortgage on your house is gone now’.”
McGregor is due to take on Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight title in Las Vegas on December 12th, a bout that McGregor’s father said the Dubliner has already won. “He doesn’t fear any of his opponents,” he said. “He has this fight won since January.”
